Apparatus for telephone-switchboards.



Patented July 3|, 1900.

J. JJOCONNELL. APPARATUS For: TELEPHONE SWITGHBDARDS.

(Application filed May 12, 1899.)

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J. OCONNELL. APPARATUS FOR TELEPHONE SWITCHBUABDS.

(Application filed May 12, 1889.)

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i STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH J. OCONNELL, or OIIIOAGOJLLINOIS, 'Assieivoa TO THE WESTERN-ELECTRIC COMPANY, or SAME PLACE.

APPARATU FOR ,TELEPHONE-SWITQHBOARDZs.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 654,758, dated July 311900; Application filed May 12, 1899. Serial Ila. 716,528. (No model.)

'15 L122 whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, JOSEPH J OCoNNELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illi- 5 nois,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus forTelephone- Switchboards, (Case No. 2,) of which the following is a full,clear, concise, and exact de:

scription. h

I My invention relates to apparatus for telephone-switchboards;auditsobject is to pro- Vide improved mechanism associated with aconnecting-plugfor accomplishinga number 'of useful functions in thecourse of connectr ing and disconnecting telephone-lines.

' My invention contemplates, first, switching mechanism associated withthe seat wherein the connecting-plug normally rests forautomaticallyincluding a source of signalingcurrent in circuit with one of thecontacts of the plug when the latteris lifted from its seat preparatoryto making a connection and for removing said source of signaling-currentfrom circuit when the called subscriber answers the signal by removinghis telephone from its hook.

Another feature of my invention consists in means for controlling theoperators telephone-circuit.

0 My invention is especially applicable to telephone-exchange systemswherein trunklines are employed between the different boards, one end ofthe trunk-line terminating before an answering or supervising operator 5who answers the calls of a number of subscribers whose lines terminateat her board and the other end of the-trunk-line terminat: ing at theboard of a receiving operator, or,-

as she is sometimes called, a trunk oper- 40 ator, who merely makesconnections between the trunk-lines and other telephone-lines at theorder of the supervising operator. To prevent confusion, it is intendedthat the answering operator only and not the receiving operator shallconverse with subscribers whose lines are connected by the trunk-line,and I have provided in connection with the trunk-line plug at the boardof the receiving operator, an arrangement of mechanism con- 5o trolledby the cooperation of-the plug with the scat wherein it rests when notin active use,

whereby the telephone of the receiving operator, which is the instrumentwith which the busy test ordinarily is made, is automatically connectedwith the cord-circuit when the plug is lifted from its seat preparatoryto making a connection, so that the busy test may quickly be made. Ihave further provided means for automatically cutting out or removingthe operators telephone from cir 6o cuit by the act of inserting theplug in a V spring-jack. Again, my inventioncoritemplates the provisionof means for indicating the length of time which is required to get aresponse from a subscriber after the connecting-plug has been insertedin his spring-jackthat is, for indicating how long a time theringing-current has been maintained upon his line. In connection withthe above a further feature of my invention consists in the provision ofmeans for automatically counting the number of connections which aremade at any given board or with any given group of plugs,anelectrically-operated counting device being included in a circuit whichis controlled by the insertion of the plug in a spring-jack. A

My invention consists, further, in certain combinations of electricaland mechanical mechanism for accomplishing the functions set forthabove, together with other functions incidental to the operation of thetelephoneexchange system, all of which will be more fully set forth byreference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic View indicating by means ofconventional symbols the telephone-exchange apparatus of my invention.Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are detail views illustrating certain portions of theapparatus in the'positions or relations which they occupy at difierentstages of the operation of making a connection. Fig. 5 is a detail viewof an electrically-operated counting 5 device intended to be used inconnection with the other apparatus of my invention, and Fig. 6 is adetail view of an electrically-controlled time-indicator.

Similar letters of reference are used to des- 10o ignate the same partswherever they are shown.

another switchboard D at which the telephone-line of subscriber Bterminates. The trunk-line a, as is usual, terminates at theanswering-switchboard in a spring-jackb, the two conductors aa of thetrunk-line beingconnected to the line-springs b 12 respec tively, ofsaid spring-jack. At switchboard D the conductors 'aa are connectedwithith'e contact portions 0 respectively, a of the When the plug is notin trunk-line plug 0. service for connecting lines, it rests ina'verticall y.-n1ovable seat cl, which m ay be mounted upon -thepivotedarm (1. Two plungers e e are conuected' with the arm (1, whereby thedownward mo'vement of said arm by th I weight 'of the'pl'ug or theupward movement switch-contacts 'E.

thereof-by thesprin g a will cause said plun- *g'e'r's to move downwardor upward in-an ob-- viou's manner, The plunger e engages "andoperates-asst of'switch-con tacts E. Similarly the'plungere' engages andoperates a set of The set E consists of contactsprings f 9h 11, mountedsubstantially parallel to one another, anda contact stud or point 10.The contact-spring It tends naturally'to "en-gage the spring g but whenthe plug rests in its socketthe plungerc forces i't downward and breaksthis engagement, also fo'rcingthe spring 1' downward, which other-,

wise would engagethesprin g h and which does do so at certain times whennot prevented The spring '9 carries aninsulatinfg-lugl, which projectstoward the spring f. No'rmally thespring f does notem gage thefcon'tactpoin-t is; but when the spring h engages the spring gthe insulatinglu'gl upon the latter presses against the springf and forces it againstits contact-point'k. 'An electromagnet F is associated with themechanism E the armature of which magnet is 'providedwitha detent m,which is adapted norinally-to engage the projecting end of con- -tactspring 'h and maintain the same in a 5 depressed condition independentlyof the plunger-c, as shown inFi'gs. land 2.

The mechanism E-is similar to mechanism E, being provided with springsf, g, h,and

engaged from its contact-point.

t", corresponding to the springs f, g, h, 'and 'g'yan'd thecontact-point 7c and insulatingstud lffcorrespondi-ng to the parts andZ, respectively, except that the spring f. is norin-ally in engagementwith its contact-point =1o',"i wihile'in the apparatus E thesituation isreversed-that is,;the spring is normally dis- A magnet Fis associatedwith the mechanism 'E, the armature of which magnet is likewiseprovidedwith -a detent m for engaging the projecting end ofcontact-spring h.

The mechanism E diifers from 'the' mec'hs "anisin E'in that anadditional spring n and n and forcing it downward upon its contactpoint,as showninFigs. 1', 2, and'3.

The'contactmechanism E E is included in the trunk line circuit, thecontinuity of conductor a being controlled by contactsprings g and h,while the continuity of conductor a is similarly controlled bycontacts'prin'g's g h. This will be obvious upon a .Whilelhave spoken ofthe trunk-line as a continuous line and have given the letters a" a tothe conductors which constitute the same, it is shown as dividedintotwoparts at the'switchboard D byfa repeating-coil G, one side of whichrepeating-'coil"-that is,the portions ppbeing includ'ed-in'that part .ofthe trunk-line which extends to'the 'spring jack at the 'answeringboard,and: the *other'portions p p of 'therepeating-coil being includedinthatpart" of the trun'kdine "which extends to the plug a. The parts ofthe'trunkline, while thus mechanically separated, and, indeed,electrically separated. :so far as direct currentsare-concerned,really'constitute, in eifect, a continuous line when alternating,pulsating, or varying currents, such as'telephonic vOice-currentsflaretransmitted over it. Such an arrangement is not unusual, and therelations of the twogpa'rts of the trunkline to one another are wellunder'stoodby those skilled in the art. "A battery?" is shown includedbetween the portions 9 0 to-siupply current forthes'ubscriberstransmitter in accordan'ce-withthe well-known operation of thecentralized-batterysystem. The conductor between the portions p and' pisgrounded at s. A relay t is included inthe circuit of battery rgthisrelay serving to control *the 'clearing-out-signal lamp t,"whic'hderives its current from battery it. An order-wire telephone-circuit Hextends from switchboard O toswit'chboard D, wherebythe operators maycommunicate with one another.

The above description of certain parts of the apparatusshown will besufficient foundationfora description of the operation of the systemwhereby-an idea of my invention may be more readily obtained thanbyamere description of the electrical vconnections. I wi-ll't-hereforeproceed to describethe dinerent steps'which are taken in establishing aconnection between subscribers A andB.

Supposethat subscriber Aihas called for connection with subscriber B.Operator 0, knowing that Bs line terminatesat board D, informs theoperator'there by means or the order-wireHwhat connection is "desiredand is informed in return what trunk-lineshemay use to extend'subscriberAs line. If trunkline in, is tobe used, operator O makes the connectionat spring-jack b, using an ordi- In ary pair of plugs and theircord-circuit, such ICC 7 springs h h.

as every answering operator is provided with, and which includes theusual telephone and signaling apparatus incidentally employed inconnecting and disconnecting lines. This is well known and does notenter directly into the system of myinvention. Hence for clearness allof it, excepting the pair of plugs, has been omitted from thedrawings'and need not be further described. The mechanism E E isnormally in the position shown in Fig. 1; but as soon as the plug 0 islifted from its seat the plungers c e are raised, permittingcontact-springs i 11 to engage with contact- Contact-spring 11 isconnected to ground at 8 through the operators telephone t'?, and aretardation-coil and spring h being connected with the tip of the plug 0through conductor a, when the operator makes the busy test and touchesthe tip 0 of the plug to the test-ring of the called-subscribers line ifthe line is busy-that is, if

the test-ring is connected with a grounded battery in accordance withthe usual busytest systemcurrent will flow through .conductor a,contact-spring h, contact-spring 2', telephone '5 to ground, giving thebusy signal. If the caIlcdsubScribers line he not busy, the plug isinserted, and the act of insertion causes several changes in the condition of the apparatus, as follows: First. Current flows from thegrounded battery a through a conductor to and the coils of magnet F tothe contact portion c -of the plug and from thence to the test-ring ofthe called-subscribers spring-jack and through the usual cut-off relayto ground, thus establishiug the busy signal at all of the multiplespring-jacks of the called-subscribers line in the well-known way.

Second. The circuit including magnet F being controlled byregistering-contacts of the plug and spring-jack is thus completed, andmagnet F is energized and attracts its armature, withdrawing detent mand permitting spring h to fly back, so that said spring disengagesitself from contact-spring tand strikes contact-spring g above it, and,further, through the medium of the insulatinglug Z, pushescontact-spring f into engagement with its stud 70, as shown in Fig. 3.Contact being broken between springs h and 2', the operators telephone11 which is connected with and controlled by the spring 7;, is thusautomatically cut off from the circuit. ,As before stated, her telephoneis intended only to be used in making the busy test and in conversingwith the operator at switchboard C, this latter operator being the onlyone who is required to converse with the subscribers. Current frombattery to now finds path through resistance 20 to contact-spring f,contact-spring f, contacfipoint 70, through a time-indicator 00,(including a lamp w,) and counting device x to ground at 0: The countingdevice 00 which is shown in detail in Fig. 5, consists merelyin anarrangement ofindicati'ng-disks like those of an ordinary cyclometeroperated by the armature of an electromagnet, so that each energizationof the magnet willregister once upon the dial. The time-indicator shownin Fig. 6 is in the nature of a stop-watch and is connected with anarmature of an electromagnet in such a manner that it can run only whenthe armature is in an attracted positionthat is, when current is flowingthrough the magnet-coil. The electromagnets of both of these instrumentsare included in the circuit from battery u, controlled by the contacts flo and f 70. Upon this circuit being closed by the energization ofmagnet F and the consequent engagement with one another of contacts fand 7c the counting device 00 will therefore register ,the connectionand the time-indicator will begin to run and the lamp :0 will burn untilthe circuit is broken. I will describe the breaking of this circuithereinafter.

Third. Ringing-current will flow from a generator y through the coils ofmagnet F to contact-spring '5, spring h, conductor a to thesleeve-contact c of the plug, whence it will flow out over thesubscribers line, through his bell, and back over the other side of theline to the tip of the plug, conductor a, spring'h, spring g, throughthe portion of repeating-coil G to ground at s. Thecurrent throughmagnet F is not suflicient at this time to energize it and thesubscribers bell continues to ring until he answers by removing histelephone from its hook. When he doesthis, it reduces the resistance ofthe circuit and permits more current to flow, energizing magnet F, whichattracts its armature, and thereby withdraws the detent m fromcontact-spring h. This permits the spring to fly upward and assume itsnormal position, whereupon its contactwith sp'ringc' is broken and thegenerator cutout of circuit. The spring 77/ now presses upward againstthe contact g, completing the circuit of bat tery 'r to line, and theraising of the contactspring g causes the insulating-button Z, carriedthereby, to engage the contact-springf and raise it from its contact is,as shown in Fig. 4.. The contact-spring It, relieved from the downwardpressure of the insulating-but ton 0, carried by the spring 71, springsupward, separating itself from its contact-anvil n and breaking thecontact between them. The breaking of the electrical contact between thespring fand its anvil kcuts off the branch circuit including thecounting device, signal-lamp w, and time-indicator, so that thetime-indicator, being deprived of current, will cease to run. The timeduring which currenthas been flowing in this branch circuit is thereforethe length of time which has been taken in getting response to the call,and this is shown by the indicator, which began to run when the circuitwas established atcontactsfk at the time the callingplug was insertedand ceased to run when the flow IIO of current was stopped by thebreaking of the I circuit at contacts f k at the time the called ize'dbattery 1' through the portion of the repeating} coil G,cont-act-spr-ing 9, contact spring h, conductor a to the tip of theplug,

' out, over the subscribers line, through his transmitting instrument inthe usual manner, back over the other side of the line to thesleeve-contact c of the plug, conductor a, 7 spring h, springg throughthe relay t, and

the portion p of the repeating-coil G, and back to the other side of thebattery. The line of subscribers A and B are thus connected tlgough thetrunk-line at switchboards O and r While the plug a is inserted inthejack of the called line, current from battery it flows through thehelix of magnetFand by wayof the thirdcontact c of the plug andtest-ring of the jack to ground through the cut-oflf re-v lay'in theusual manner 3 but the signal-lamp t included in this circuit is shuntedby the lowresistance w until the called subscriber responds, thecontacts m, which control this shunt, being pressed together by theinsulatin Figs. 1, 2, and 3. When the called subscriber answers, themagnet F is energized, as before described, to release the springs I arebrought about electrically are the releasing of the contact-springs h hbyelectroinag nets F F. The other circuit changes are pro duced by themechanical connection between thecontact-springs and the movable plug 0.

It will be evident that the. ideas I have above set forth maybe embodiedin telephone- Y exchanges ditfering widely as to their specificconstruction and that numerous modifications may be made from the formshown in the drawings without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I therefore claim 1. An apparatus for telephoneswitchboards,consisting'of a connecting-plugand its cord-circuit, a seat wherein theplug is adapted to rest when not in use, switch-contacts and means forsetting the same conftrolled by the coeperation of the plug withits'se-at, an electromagnet having an armaf ture for releasing saidswitch-contacts, and means for energizing said magnet, substan-' jtiallyas set forth.

ing-button 0,carried by the spring h,as shown 2. The combination with'atelephone-line,

of a plug and 'its cord-circuit, said plug becontrolled thereby, so'thatthey take the position as shown in Fig. 4 and the shunt of the lamp,which includes the resistance w and is controlled by contacts at n, isbroken, these contacts being separated, as hereinbefore described; butthe signal-lamp t is not yet illuminated, because, although the shuntcontrolled by contacts n n is broken, yet a second shunt, including alow resistance 29, is immediately closed by the relay t, this relay be-v ing excited V by the current from battery 1' through its helix andoutover the line, as previously traced. When, however, the subscriber Bhas finished using his telephone and hangs up his receiver upon itshook, this circuit through relay t is broken at the switchcontacts ofthe telephone-hook at the substation, so that the relay t becomesdeenergized and allows its armature to fall back. The shunt of the lampincluding resistance 15 is I thus broken an d'the lamp is illuminated.

V claiming this broadly. I believe, however,

. the cord-circuit by means of a plug-seat I am aware that means forautomatically ringing thecalled subscriber upon the insertion of theconnecting-plug into the springjack of his line has been accomplishedheretofore, andI do not wish to be understood as that I am the first toaccomplish the automatic connection and disconnection of the generatorand the operators telephone with switch. Heretofore the circuit changesnecessary for the automatic connection and-disconnection of thegenerator have been efiected by means of contact-springs, which were 5ing adapted for Insertion In said springack, aseat wherein said plug isadapted to rest when not in active use, a set of switch-con ,tactscontrolled by the coeperationof said I plug with its seat, a; source ofsignaling-currcnt, means controlled by saidswitch-contacts forconnecting the same to the cord-circuit, wherebysaid source of currentis con-, 1 nected with the cord-circuit and through the latter with thetelephone-line when the plug is lifted from' its seat and inserted inthe {spring-jack, an electromagnet connected or adapted to beconnectedwith the telephoneline, mechanism adapted to be influenced by saidmagnet to change the relations of said switch-contacts to remove thesource of siganaling-current from circuit, and means controlled at thesubscribers station for energizing said magnet, whereby said source ofsignaling-current is cut out when the subscriber answers, substantiallyas described. 3. The combination withaconnecting-plug adapted forinsertion in a telephone-line spring-jack, of a seat wherein said plugis adapted to rest when not in active use, a set of switch-contactscontrolled by the cooperation of said plug with its seat, a source ofsignaling-current and a circuit controlled by said switch-contacts forconnecting thesame with the cord-circuit, whereby said source ofsignaling-current .is connected with the plug when the latter is liftedfrom its seat preparatory to making a connection, an electromag:

net, circuit-changing mechanism adapted tobe influenced thereby to cutout said source of signaling-current, and means for energizing saidelectromagnet, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a telephone-line extending from the subscribersstation and terminating in a spring-jack at the central ofiice, of aplug and its cord-circuit, said plug being adapted for insertion in saidspringjack to connect the cord-circuit with the telephone-line, anelectrically-operated time-indicating device, means controlled byregistering-contacts on the plug and spring-jack for operating saidindicating device, and means controlled by the subscribers apparatus forpreventing the operation of said timeindicating device, whereby saiddevice is operated during the time between the insertion of the plug andthe operation of said subscribers apparatus, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a connectingplug, of a seat wherein the same isadapted to rest, a switch-contact adapted to occupy alternativepositions, controlled by the cooperation of the plug with its seat, adetent for retaining the spring in one of its alternative positionsindependent of the plug, an electromagnet having an armature adapted torelease said contact, and means for energizing said magnet,substantially as described.

6. .The combination with a connecting-plug and its cord-circuit, of aseat wherein said plug is adapted to rest when not in active use, acontact-spring, mechanical means for movlng said contact-spring out ofits normal position, said means being controlled by the cooperation ofthe plug with its seat whereby said spring is bent out of its normalposition when the plug rests in its seat, contacts with which saidspring is adapted to engage in alternative positions, a detent adaptedto maintain said spring in an abnormal position independently of themeans controlled by the plug and its seat, an electromagnet and meansadapted to ,be influenced thereby to disengage said detent from saidcontact-spring, a circuit including said magnet, and a source of currentand registering-contacts on the plug and spring-jack for controllingsaid cir: cuit, whereby the spring is released from said detent by theinsertion ofthe plug in the spring-jack, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a connectingplug, of a seat wherein the plug isadapted to rest when not in use, two independent sets ofswitch-contacts, a telephone-circuit controlled by one set of contactsand a signalingcircuit controlled by the other set of contacts, meansassociated with the plug -seat for changing the relations of both setsof contacts and for setting the same, electromagnets associated one witheach set of switch-contacts, armatures for said magnets adapted whenmoved to release the contacts previously set, and means for energizingsaid electromagnets, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a connectingplug, of a movable seat wherein thesame is adapted to rest when not in use, two independent sets ofswitch-springs, both adapted to be set by the movable plug-seat,independent electric circuits controlled by each of said sets ofswitch-springs, electromagnets associated one with each of said sets ofswitchsprings, mechanism operated by said magnets for releasing theswitch-springs, and means for energizing said electromagnets,substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 9th day of May, A.D. 1899.

JOSEPH J. OCONNELL Witnesses:

DE WITT O. TANNER, .GEORGE P. BARTON.

